Poles fight for external relations slot

Poland’s ambassador to the European Union Marek Grela is said to be seeking a job with the European Commission – that of deputy director- general for external relations.

Grela will face fierce competition, not just from the brightest and best of the new EU states – but even from his home country: fellow Pole Jan Truszczynski, deputy foreign minister, former chief negotiator with the EU and a former ambassador to the Union is also thought to be in the hunt.

Is it just the prospect of working with the charming new commissioner-designate for external relations, Austrian Benita Ferrero Waldner that attracts such two high-calibre politicians? Perhaps both Grela and Truszczynski fear that the forthcoming elections in Poland (which could take place early next year or even before) will deliver a blow to their embattled party.

And that would leave them unemployed – or almost. The European Commission at least has a greater life-expectancy than a Polish government.

There is something splendidly parochial about the state-aid investigation launched last week by the European Commission’s competition department into JC Decaux, a French advertising company. The question …